SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants watched from the dugout earlier this week as Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio became the youngest player to ever have a 20-20 season, and this weekend they'll get another look at Jackson Merrill, the frontrunner to be the National League's Rookie of the Year. Chourio is just 20 years old and Merrill is 21, with both being part of a wave of young talent that's showing the traditional expectations for top prospects are changing.
The Giants have been waiting over a decade for their next franchise-altering position player, but they finally could be close. First baseman Bryce Eldridge will spend the rest of his first full professional season in Triple-A, a remarkable rise for a power hitter who doesn't turn 20 until Oct. 20 and was drafted in July of 2023.
After a promotion to High-A and a dominant stretch there, the Giants sent the Virginia native to Double-A Richmond earlier this month with the intention that he would end his season close to home and get his feet wet at an affiliate where he was set to start the 2025 season. But Eldridge ended up playing just nine games for the Flying Squirrels.
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"As his stint there has gone on -- it has been short -- but we've had a lot of people in there talking about how he really has been the best guy on the field, and the at-bat quality has been phenomenal," president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said Saturday. "I know the [stat] line doesn't jump off the page, but even his outs are 100-mph hard-hit balls, and as much as anything, we just want him to keep playing. He's in a really good groove, we think he's getting better every day, and just the chance to play an extra week was a big motivator."
Eldridge had a .320 on-base percentage and notched a homer, triple and two doubles in 40 plate appearances in Double-A. That league's season ends this week, though, and the Giants wanted Eldridge to keep getting consistent at-bats before playing in the Arizona Fall League, a showcase for the game's best prospects.
They pretty quickly started talking internally about a third 2024 promotion for their top prospect, and they planned to tell Eldridge he would be headed back to California next week. During those discussions, the Giants decided just to move him this weekend, and on Saturday, the 19-year-old posted on Instagram that he was already on the way to join the River Cats in Round Rock, Texas.
The River Cats finish their season with a six-game homestand next week, allowing Eldridge to get an additional 20 at-bats or so because of the extra promotion. The Giants have another week of games after the Triple-A season ends, but Zaidi said this will be it -- at least for 2024.
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"I would rule that out," Zaidi said of Eldridge finishing in the big leagues. "I think the plan is really for him to just wrap up in Sacramento."
Zaidi said this final week-plus in Triple-A won't impact Eldridge's starting point next season. The original plan was for him to start 2025 in Double-A with a chance to move quickly, but the Giants will bring him to camp, and it wouldn't shock anyone if those plans change and he returns to Triple-A. Given this quick ascent, there's at least an outside shot that Eldridge is so impressive next spring that the Giants consider starting him in the big leagues.
Merrill was only 20 when he played center field for the San Diego Padres on Opening Day. It took a while for him to get fully comfortable, but he entered play Saturday with 23 homers and a .819 OPS. Zaidi made it clear that Eldridge will be in the big-league mix at some point next season.
"Sure, even independent of this move up to Triple-A, once you get to Double-A, I view you as sort of being in the big league picture, especially if you do well," he said. "There's no plan etched in stone, but the way he has progressed this year, I think if he continues that, he could definitely be here next year."
There will be a lot of offseason rumors between now and then, but the Giants don't currently have too much of a roadblock at first base. LaMonte Wade Jr. is arbitration-eligible and should enter the offseason as the primary starter, but he only is under team control through 2025. The Giants have an option on Wilmer Flores, who had season-ending surgery last month. Mark Canha and Jerar Encarnación also have seen time at first base recently.
The Giants believe Eldridge's bat is just about ready to force the issue, but he is considered behind with the glove, which always is the case for players fresh out of high school. He has worked with Will Clark at multiple points this season, and Zaidi said Clark is "really bullish" on Eldridge's future at the position. He'll spend the next week with the Triple-A staff and then continue to work on the intricacies of playing first base when he reaches the Fall League.
The Giants have no long-term concerns about a player who was a pitcher and outfielder in high school and only switched to first base full-time this spring. They believe he'll be a good defender over time, but Eldridge might not have too much of that. His bat should have him in San Francisco next season, and the Giants aren't worried that this all seems to be happening very quickly.
"For us it's really not as much about age as it is about polish in the batter's box," Zaidi said. "He's as polished a hitter as we have in the farm system."
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